Activism as Art

If you know me then you know I have a knack for traversing emotional landscapes, most of the time gracefully and sometimes not so gracefully (I take pride in my imperfect humanness). My art comes from a place of vulnerability and passion that is greatly influenced by the natural landscapes of environment. For this reason, and so many more, I reside in an ecologically diverse and remote community where I have access to the magnificence of nature on a daily basis. I pull my art from the places both within and without and I believe the two are synonymous; human relationship to the outer environment is a reflection to the inner environment of the emotional and physical self.

When I paint I often imagine dancing between the two, the body and the earth. Or one…the earth. Whichever way you look at it. Respect for the natural world is of great importance to me. Abuse to humans, animals, or biological regions raises my blood pressure like nothing else. We are all on this planet together and there is no tolerance for carelessness of life. We must continue to grow together and learn to respect our self, one another, and the habitats we reside within. We need to be good humans and treat all living things with reverence.

Earlier this month, I read an article in Exotic Hikes that illuminated an issue that encompasses the region of my home on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. As I read the article, I could not believe that there was no other media or information about these plans. The more I learned, the more disappointed and impassioned I became.

The nutshell version: The US Navy partnered behind the publics back to request a land use permit from the United States Forest Services which would allow the Navy access to protected land of the Olympic National Forest. The Navy’s proposal for Electromagnetic Warfare Training Games would bring an additional 36 Growler Jets to the airspace of the Olympic National Park while mobile and fixed emitters would be positioned throughout the Olympic National Forest and neighboring communities sending signals to the jets overhead.

We are united community members around the Olympic Peninsula and world, raising our voices together to stand for the land. (Check out this stunning video & other inspiring creative projects by More Than Just Parks)

The Olympic National Park is described as a place of incredible beauty and variety. A day’s exploration can take you from breathtaking mountain vistas with meadows of wildflowers to colorful ocean tide pools. Nestled in the valleys are some of the largest remnants of ancient rain and old growth forests left in the United States. Home to endangered species and coined the last quiet place in America, this is an ecologically diverse and magnificent part of the world where pilgrims from all over visit to bask in the stillness of its beauty.

The words of Howard Zinn:

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand Utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Art is life in action.

Activism is action for life.

“To be an artist is to believe in life,” says Henry Moore.

There is no doubt in my heart that groups of impassioned artists, believers in life, are creating the future one marvelous victory by one marvelous victory by one marvelous victory by one…

Onward we go, change it is slow, the road may be long but our voices are strong.

The roots of this forest are ancient and deep and the hearts of the dreamers have promises to keep.

PERMANENT EXHIBITION

A permanent display of work is located at The CoLab, 237 Taylor Street, in the heart of beautiful, picturesque, historic downtown Port Townsend, Washington. The space is open to the public, Monday - Friday, 9am-5pm, and the collection "Beneath Waves" covers two different styles of art from a five year span of time.
www.ptcolab.com